Menu Converts Pole To Victory In Race 1 In Porto

Alain Menu scored a lights-to-flag victory in Race 1 of the World Touring Car Championship Race of Portugal on the streets of Porto. Yvan Muller held off Rob Huff to finish second as the Chevrolet trio scored their third 1-2-3 finish of the season.

Menu kept his lead from the rolling start, though Muller and Huff were close behind during the first half of the race. Muller then started to drop back though, which handed Menu a comfortable margin up front. He took the checkered flag with a gap of 1.2 seconds to Muller.

As Muller dropped back he came under increasing pressure from Huff. The Briton could not find a way past around the street circuit though, so would have to settle for third.

Tiago Monteiro finished a fine fourth on his home circuit. He took the position from his SUNRED teammate Gabriele Tarquini on the opening lap of the race, after the Italian had got around the outside of Huff at the start, resulting in slight contact between the pair. This allowed Monteiro to get alongside Tarquini, taking the position for good when he had the inside line a few corners later.

Tarquini attempted to reclaim the place a few laps into the race but would settle for fifth. Tom Coronel had a very quiet run to sixth in his ROAL Motorsport BMW, with Robert Dahlgren seventh in the Polestar Volvo.

Norbert Michelisz won the Yokohama Trophy battle for the independent drivers in eighth overall. He was followed across the line by Michel Nykjaer and Stefano D'Aste, who scored the final overall point in tenth on his WTCC return.

Team Engstler teammates Krisitan Poulsen and Franz Engstler spent much of the race fighting over 11th, with the Dane eventually coming out on top. Engstler was passed too by Javier Villa, but the Spaniard then hit the wall on the exit of the first chicane, putting him out of the race.

He joined Fredy Barth and Aleksei Dudukalo on the sidelines. Barth was spun by Villa at the same chicane on the opening lap, with Dudukalo then collecting Barth's stranded Leon and putting both into retirement.